The present invention relates to a bus of the hardtop type having at least ten seats and comprising a chassis and a body with an at least substantially U-shaped roof construction, which covers at least some of the seats of the bus, which roof construction can be removed, and be replaced again, over at least some of the at least ten seats. Unless explicitly stated otherwise, the term “remove” as used herein is understood to mean removing the cover from its original, seat-covering position. Furthermore preferably, the bus has at least thirteen seats, so that the bus will be suitable for group transport or for touristic purposes.
Such a vehicle is known as a cabrio bus. The known cabrio bus has a substantially U-shaped roof construction, which is detachably attached to the bus body. Upon conversion of the known cabrio bus from a closed bus to an open bus, the roof construction is detached and the roof construction, or at least the removable part thereof, is removed from the body and temporarily stored outside the bus. The cabrio bus can now be used with an open roof. When the roof of the cabrio bus is to be closed, the bus is driven to the location where the removable part of the roof construction is temporarily stored. At that location, the roof construction is placed on the body again and attached thereto.
A drawback of the known cabrio bus is the fact that the conversion from a closed roof state to and open roof state, and vice versa, is a relatively laborious job. In addition, the removable part of the roof construction is separated from the bus, so that the roof construction is not available for being placed back in the case of a sudden change of the weather.
Accordingly it is the object of the present invention to provide a passenger vehicle as described in the introduction which is easier to convert between a closed roof state and an open roof state and/or which remains with the vehicle also in the open position of the roof.
This object is achieved by the present invention in that the substantially U-shaped roof construction comprises at least two substantially shape retaining, nestable roof elements which are movable relative to each other and which are positioned at least substantially one behind another, at least in the covering position. This makes it possible to store the nestable roof elements in a nested position in or on the vehicle in the non-covering position, as a result of which one or more roof elements can be removed from their original position by being moved in the vehicle from an original position, in which they cover one or more seats in the passenger compartment of the vehicle, to a nested position. This is realised without the storage thereof objectionably taking up any space, or at least hardly any space, for any passengers in the passenger compartment. An example of this is described in PCT/NL/2012/0505654. Thus, the roof elements that have been removed from their covering position can be carried along by the vehicle at all times, also in their removed position, so that the object of the present invention is (at least partially) achieved. The term “non-covering position” of a roof element is understood to mean the position of the roof element in which the roof element does not cover that part of the passenger compartment above the seats where it is located in the covering position. Nested roof elements may jointly cover another part of the passenger compartment, or at least of the vehicle, however.
Passenger vehicles of the hardtop convertible type in which the roof elements can be stored in a compact manner in relation to each other in the vehicle in the open position of the roof do exist, to be true, but insofar as the relative position of the roof elements in that state may be regarded as nested, there is this important difference that vehicles comprising fewer seats, as a rule no more than four, are concerned in that case. The removable part of the roof construction is relatively small in order to be able to store the shape-retaining elements of the roof in the vehicle, for example in the trunk of a car.
A known convertible comprises a hinged frame provided with a flexible fabric, wherein the fabric, which functions as a roof, can be folded open by swinging hinging elements of the hinged frame rearwards, seen in the driving direction of the vehicle. The fabric folds onto itself, so that it will take up relatively little space in the open position of the roof. This is not a hardtop convertible type, however. A drawback of such a roof is the fact that the construction is not shape-retaining and that weather influences are relatively easily noticeable by the occupants also in the closed position of the roof construction. In addition, the windows of the removable part of the roof construction are less suitable for looking out therethrough in the closed position of vehicle. They are made of a flexible plastic material.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,851,741 describes a combined passenger and cargo vehicle with an extendable cargo area. The cargo area can be extended by the use of collapsible seats behind the driver's seat. The part where the (collapsible) seats are located is permanently covered in its entirety by a fixed roof construction. Provided above a permanent cargo part are movable roof elements for the cargo bed, so that the covering of the cargo space can be partially cleared.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,997,502 describes a pickup truck having a cargo part with a hard cover, roof elements of which can be moved to an overlapping position. A passenger part is separated from the cargo part by means of a fixed cover and a partition.
The passenger compartment preferably extends from the B-pillar to the C-pillar of the passenger vehicle. Thus, a passenger compartment that extends over the entire length behind the driver's seat is provided.
It is furthermore preferable if the passenger compartment extends from the A-Pillar to the C-pillar of the passenger vehicle. Thus, the passenger compartment extends over substantially the entire vehicle, so that the space of the vehicle can be maximally used for the driver and passengers. Put differently, this makes it possible to cover a large number of the seats present in the vehicle with removable roof elements.
If the length of the passenger compartment is at least three meters, the part of the passenger compartment covered by the removable roof elements is sufficiently large for using the vehicle as a tour vehicle for tourists. A removable cover provides tourists with a better view of the surroundings outside the vehicle.
To realise an efficient utilisation of the passenger vehicle and driver, it is preferable if the number of seats is at least six. Thus, at least six persons can be taken around by means of the vehicle.
On the other hand it is preferable if the number of seats is at most nine. In accordance with (at least European) legislation, a driver having a license for driving passenger cars, called a B-license in the Netherlands, is allowed to drive a vehicle with at most nine seats. Thus, any person who has such a driving license is in principle allowed to drive the vehicle according to the present preferred embodiment without being required to have additional certificates or diplomas.